Do mountains shrink?

Answer 1

Yes, Erosion.

Answer 2

Mountains are formed in different ways - most are thrust upwards as one tectonic plate slams into another (although at a very slow speed!) Even as they are growing upwards, their surafces, particualrly at their summits and steeper surfaces are being weateherd and eroded and sometimes collapsing wholesale so depending on which has the upper hand the lifting due to tectonic forces or the erosion etc then the mountain can either be growing or shrinking.

Now some volcanoes can grow and shrink over periods of hours, days , weeks or months as lava chambers within them fill and empty - remember Mt St Helens in 1980?

As for the answerer who thinks that there are problems with the age of the Earth - think again! If you accept that erosion happens why don't you accept the overwhelming scientific evidence that mountain-building occurs too? Perhaps you've never seen a mountain and the faults and folds in the rocks that form them - how did they get there and what do they represent? Read up on plate tectonics and orogenesis (mountain-building) - a fascinating subject.

Answer 3

i was reading an article about everest shrank 4 feet since 1999 due to global warming melting the glaciers on everest. some mountains are form by volcanos and others are form by tectonic or continental plates crashing into each and causing upheavel like the Andes, Rockies and the Himilayans and the Alps are shrinking because the africa and european continental plates are separating. other reasons such as wind, ice and rain corrosion would cause a certain amount of shrinkage over time. one interesting fact that keeps mountains from getting any bigger than everest is gravity if it got much bigger it would sink into the earth. consider this Mt everest is approx 6 miles high but on the Planet Mars which has 1/3 of the gravity of earth there is an extinct volcano called 'Olympus Mons' measuring a staggering 16 miles high summit. Gravity is constantly trying to pull down mountains so it would definitely play a role in mountain shrinking.

Answer 4

Most mountains in the world grow. This is caused by tectonic plates slamming into each other, lifting the ground above. Shrinkage happens at the same time, in the form of erosion, but is usually slower than the lifting. So there is a net growth effect. There are a few exceptions that shrink though. Usually these mountains are located far away from geological fault lines, and are much more ancient than the growing mountains.

Answer 5

Yes, After so many years the rain will wash the earth away for example. Erosion. I know that the mountains where I live were made because of Glaciers cutting the earth out millions of years ago. They are not near a fault line so it's just the erosion that have made them shrink here.

Answer 6

They are dynamic. Some shrink because of erosion, and some grow because of plate tech-tonics. Very old mountains, like Europe are shrinking. Very new ones, like the Himalayas are growing as India crashes into Asia.
B

Answer 7

Eventually, mountains cease to grow and erosion outpaces uplift.

The Appalachian Mountains, currently about 6,000 ft max.) in the eastern US used to be as high as the Alps (~18,000 feet) millions of years ago.

Answer 8

They definitely get smaller due to erosion.
The average height reduction for all the continents of the world is about 60 mm (2.4 inches) per 1,000 years.

This raises interesting problems for those who think the earth is billions of years old. North America should have been levelled in 10 million years if erosion has continued at the average rate!


http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/230

Answer 9

well, a mountain is basicly a big dirt pile. if u make a litle dirt pile in your backyard, will it shrink? It should, from all kinds of natural stuff like rain and winds. so...mountains do shrink from nature wearing them out.

Answer 10

yes.. erosion.. google: mountain time lapse.. some videos are pretty cool how a mountain changes form.